


A Thousand Years

by ltfoxyee, theosymphany



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Character Death Fix, Confessions, M/M, Post Resident Evil 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 23:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3828328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ltfoxyee/pseuds/ltfoxyee, https://archiveofourown.org/users/theosymphany/pseuds/theosymphany
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a year spent locked in a high security facility, Piers Nivans reports back to Alpha Team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand Years

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [A thousand years](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12794988) by [ltfoxyee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ltfoxyee/pseuds/ltfoxyee). 



> _Love makes fools of us all, big and little. - William Makepeace Thackeray_

Chris tried to compose himself for the occasion. His brows were locked beneath his peaked cap, his throat constricted by the collar of his service uniform and his palms were sweating beneath the white gloves. As the winds got fiercer, his heart was leaping in his chest. The helicopter had begun to descend steadily on base with its sole passenger.

_Piers._

With the help from the Far East Branch, Chris was able to locate Piers' unconscious body, and ever since that day he had rooted himself outside Piers' ICU unit day and night. That was until an emergency mission drew him away. When he returned from the so-called emergency mission, Piers was no longer there. HQ had locked down all the intel regarding Piers to the point that not even Chris had clearance. The thought of finding Piers possessed him for quite a while, but the relentless lecturing from Jill and Claire finally had spoken some sense into him. Even if he did find Piers' location, the only thing he could do was but to skulk around the sniper's holding unit like a lost dog. He was useless when it came to treating viral infections.

Nobody knew where HQ had kept him for the last year, and nobody knew if he was ever going to be released back to active service. Such was the secrecy that Chris had thought he was in yet another dream when he finally got the confirmation that Piers was going to report back to his SOU.

Piers stepped out of the chopper, mirroring Chris’ service uniform. He groomed himself briefly before confidently stepping up to his commanding officer.

“Piers Nivans reporting back to duty, Sir!” Piers raised his right palm to his brow, gazing intently at Chris and maintained his attention.

Piers looked just as Chris remembered him. Not a single scar on his face from his operations, and his hazel eyes were still brimming with resolve and calm as always. Chris raised his right palm and returned the salute. He lost track of his own expression, with only a faint awareness that his jaw was tight and he struggled to breathe. The pair held their salute and their stare for the longest time until Chris finally lowered his arm.

“Welcome back, soldier!” He knew that a military salute was the most he could do to express his respect to another soldier, even if every fiber of his being wanted him to wrap his arms around the man he’d missed. As the officer though, all he could do instead was to entrench this memory into his heart with the deepest honor.

Chris led Piers silently back to his old dorm. It was a short trek, but it felt like a solemn, monumental ritual that he felt would be dishonored by speech. A number of new uniforms were laid out on Piers’ bed, along with a white box filled with his personal articles.

“I…I…” Chris cleared his throat, “I gathered these for you. All of your belongings are here.”

Piers studied the box with interest, pulling out a brand new army green shemagh, with the tags still intact.

“Um, about that…” Chris pointed at the shemagh, “I took it upon myself to get you a new one, as a welcome back gift.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Piers was running the fabric gently through his fingers, “It looked just like the one I had.”

It was another unbearable silence. Both men tried to summon the words, but nothing came out.

“I’ll let you have a moment to yourself.” Chris finally stood up, afraid he was going to say something inappropriate if he lingered any longer. “We’ll have a welcome back party for you tonight at Brady’s. I’ll come get you then.”

“Alright,” Piers gave a nod, “see you then, Captain.”

“Piers,” Chris pat an arm on his shoulder, “You‘ll be an even better man than before.” He gave a firm dig of approval with his thumb on the sniper’s shoulder.

As Chris left, Piers held his own palm over the place of the thumb, savoring the intensity of the affirmative touch.

* * *

 

The new Alpha team was composed entirely of new faces. After a short introduction, he learnt that several of the members were also from the Green Berets, with several more from the Navy SEALS. They finally began their acquaintance after a few drinks. Everyone had questions for the sniper who had recovered from certain doom.

“How did you get out? We heard the whole facility went down in an explosion?”

“Where did they keep you for the entire year? Did HQ perform experiments on you?”

“Is the C-virus still present in you? I heard that when Far East Branch found you, you had completely mutated. How did they choose not to…”

“Blake!” Chris, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interrupted and cast a cold look at Blake Kelly. “That’s a step too far.”

“It’s alright, Captain.” Piers acknowledged with a wave of his arm, looking around at his new teammates. “I’m going to be fighting by your side from now on, and if you guys don’t trust me it would prove costly, so I’m going to tell you everything. Yes, the mutation had taken over completely when Far East Branch found me. I had no awareness at the time as the C-virus cocooned me in a chrysalis, and it was probably that which helped me survive the explosion. While I was out, HQ kept me in a top secret facility for many experiments, hoping to engineer antibodies against the mutation. Honestly, they were so surprised that I managed to wake up at all. They were just going to keep the experiments going….” He caught the shroud on Chris’ face and clenched fists, clearly agitated at what HQ was doing. “However, their antibodies had finally began to work. When I woke up, the virus appeared to be dormant…according to the researchers, the virus helped with my tissue regeneration while I was out, and they only need some small surgeries to make me look like this." Piers gestured to himself, he looked perfectly intact, except for a few scars around his once-mutilated arm hidden under his clothes, "Then HQ put me under an extensive list of tests. Once they confirmed that the virus was not going to break out again, I resumed my daily training. HQ passed my physical and psychological tests a few weeks ago, and finally approved my application to be reinstated."

“So did you get any superpowers?” Ronnie Cohen half joked, melting away the tension in the air.

“Unfortunately not,” Piers smiled, “I mean, it would be neat to get some superpowers, who wouldn’t want to after an infection with a super virus?”

“I’m going to order something.” Chris said, leaving his seat, “Don’t tire Piers out with the questions ok?”

“Yes, Sir,” Blake answered on behalf of the group. When Chris was out of earshot, he leaned down to Piers and said, ‘Hey bro, Captain trusts you, and because of that we trust you 100%, but that may not extend to everyone else on the base.” He lowered his voice and scanned his surrounds. “Whatever it is, we’ll be here for you, don’t you worry about any bullshit from anyone else.”

Piers gave a nod of acknowledgement. He was vaguely aware where Blake was going with the comments, he was after all fully infected once.

* * *

 

It wasn’t long before Piers was back into the full swing of things at BSAA. There didn’t seem to be any significant changes in the year since he’d been gone as even the daily schedule was still the same. Chris had arranged for the delivery of a more powerful anti-materiel rifle for Piers, and Piers couldn’t keep his hands off the weapon, spending almost all his time at the range to get acquainted.

“Your marksmanship is every bit as good as what it was,” That day Chris trained with Piers and looked over his records with pride. “I’ll have to add, nobody was able to break you sniping records in this whole year.”

“Then my title still stands, the man who never missed his target.” Piers grinned proudly.

“We just got new orders from HQ and we’re deployed tomorrow, you good for the mission?”

Piers’ eyes lit up at the prospect of being on a mission, “I can’t wait to be out by your side again, Captain!”

“Me too, Piers,” Chris’ hand again found its way to his shoulder and he let it droop. “So, let’s grab some dinner?”

“Yes, Captain,” He lowered his head, gently grazing Chris’ arm with the back of his hand.

* * *

 

“Boys,” Chris called attention giving the final briefs on the transport. “Our mission objective is very clear, eliminate all enemies and demolish this laboratory,” he displayed a map of the terrain from his PDA, the laboratory marked with a red dot. “We’ll land at Five of Hearts, following this route, then head to the evac point at Two of Spades. Check you gear and be ready for engagement.”

“Sir yes sir!” The team answered in unison as they checked over their gear.

“Piers, how’re you doing?” Chris came to his side, relieved that the sniper was steely calm.

“Locked and loaded, ready when you are, Captain,” Piers stood and nodded at Chris.

The team descended from the chopper down the ropes and Chris led the team cautiously towards their destination. As the team approached, the resistance grew heavier, forcing Alpha Team to advance through cover from abandoned buildings, covering each other with cross fire.

“Captain, our target is in sight, what are you orders,” Piers peered out at the laboratory. “There are a number of snipers on the roof, I can engage and take them out first to clear the way for you.”

Chris knew that was a workable plan, he looked at Piers and was going to let him engage, but the scene from a year ago suddenly flooded back in.

_Piers, standing at the underwater facility, silently farewelling his escape pod as it rose to the surface._

That was the one scene that forever haunted Chris’ nightmares, waking in a cold sweat each time Piers was swallowed into darkness.

“Captain? Captain? Permission to engage!” Piers’ voice pulled him back to the present. Chris closed his eyes and shook his head, as if he wanted to push the scene out of his mind. “Captain, are you ok? Chris?”

“Oh? Yeah...” Chris replied absent-mindedly. After a short pause, he announced his decision, “Blake, Ronnie, you two get the snipers from the roof.”

The two soldiers hesitated. They look at Piers, and then to Chris, seeing the latter’s signals for them to move out. “Yes sir!” Blake answered, heading out after a quick tap on Ronnie.

“Captain,” Piers watched Chris with uncertainty, “I could have taken them all out by myself.”

“I know, so can Blake and Ronnie,” Chris turned his back to Piers, standing in the empty doorway.

“Of course.” Piers replied quietly, he let the matter drop.

They successfully completed the mission. Blake had a couple of scrapes on the roof, but nothing major. Piers thought perhaps the captain wanted him to adjust back slowly, so he didn’t think much of the event. However, nothing had changed in the subsequent missions. For one reason or another, Chris no longer relied on him as much as he used to. No matter how often he was singing Piers’ praises, Piers was always an outsider in a mission. He started to doubt himself, _perhaps the Captain no longer trusts me like he used to_. He remembered the first day when Blake said some people think of him as a mutant, watching, waiting to put a bullet in his head at the first sign of turning. He had never thought that Chris could be one of them, but now he felt he was falling apart from the inside, shuddering as if he had once again grazed the darkest chasms within his heart.

* * *

 

Piers lost count of how many missions had passed. Their timed explosive device didn’t go off as planned, and someone had to go in for a manual override.

“Captain! You can’t go in by yourself,” Piers yelled at Chris between returning enemy fire behind cover. “Let me cover you!”

“Out of the question!” Chris was roaring against the backdrop of heavy gunfire. “I’m going in alone. You need to head to extraction. Everyone else is already there! That’s an order!” Chris said, darting his way into the compound against the hail of bullets raining in his way.

“Captain!” This time, Piers chose to ignore his orders and followed him, holding the enemy at bay with all his might while Chris was resetting the timer.

“We have 30 seconds until it blows, fall back!” Chris roared, throwing an infected overhead towards the group engaged with Piers to make an opening. “Run!”

Piers fell back at the opportunity over the fallen enemies and ran towards the light at the door, hearing Chris’ heavy footsteps right behind him. As the beeps of the devices intensified, signalling the time to blow, both of them leaped forward and ducked in instinct, the sound and shock of the explosion causing a ring in their ears, and the air was filled with radiant heat along with a burnt smell of who knows what. They were quickly showered under a litter of rocks and debris.

“Piers! You alright?” Chris saw Piers slumped prone on the gravel and quickly grabbed the lieutenant and turned him over, patting him up and down for any signs of injury.

“Cough….” Piers was coughing form the dust, and took Chris’ hand to help himself up. “I’m good, Captain.”

* * *

 

The tired team disassembled back to base and returned to their rooms, and Chris went back to his office to write the mission reports. Piers took off his soiled gear and quickly cleaned himself up, wasting no time before running straight to Chris’ office. He was furious, and he needed answers, one way or another.

“Captain!” He burst into Chris’ office, and the other quickly perked his head.

“What’s up Piers?” he watched the flustered sniper with calmness still in his voice.

“What the hell was that!” Piers didn’t care for formality at this point. “Why didn’t you let me cover you! You were outnumbered, you could have died if you went in alone!”

“I knew what the situation was like when I went in. I would have gotten it done, cover or not.” Chris took a deep breath. He knew that was a lie. If Piers hadn’t followed him in, he probably wouldn’t have made it back and got trapped inside. “And you, you disobeyed my direct order,” A fury of menace was rising in Chris’ eyes. He stood up and loomed over to Piers’ side. “Know your place, soldier.”

“Chris, you don’t trust me anymore, do you?” Although the Captain’s sternness made him think twice, Piers decided he still needed answers. The quiet statement cut through the air like a knife.

“What? You’re part of Alpha Team. Of course I trust you.” Chris was shocked at the question, he had never thought that was how his decisions were being interpreted.

“Then why didn’t you let me cover you? Every single mission we went out on, why did you make someone else do what I could have done? How’s that not a sign you don’t trust me anymore?” Piers’ voice was trembling at his anger, feeling his insides churn and quake again. “It is because you think I’m one of them too isn't it? You’re just watching for the day I mutate again so you can put a bullet in my head?”

“Enough!” Chris punched the desk, raging at Piers’ last comment. “What the fuck do you think you are saying!”

“THEN TELL ME WHY!” Piers was not going to back off. He was screaming squarely to his officer’s face.

“You want to know why, FINE, I’ll tell you why!” Chris grabbed Piers by the collar and shoved him onto the wall with all his strength, his eyes as ablaze as a wildfire burning out of control.

Piers clenched his fists subconsciously. Chris had never been a man of restraint, and he was clearly out of control now. He slightly regretted pushing back so hard, but he gritted his teeth, ready to take any punches. Only that there was no punch, and instead, he found a pair of lips pressing on his own. Piers opened his eyes in shock, frozen at the Captain’s actions. It wasn’t until the two coarse lips left his own that Piers realized Chris had just kissed him.

“I FUCKING LOVE YOU!” Chris didn’t give him any moment of reprieve, choosing instead to use the burning rage to clear out his true feelings. “I don’t want to see you die for _me_! I don’t want to see you die for _anyone else_! I just don't want to see you die! Period!”

Piers stood there silently watching Chris, shell shocked at the turn of events. Chris seemed to have realized his outburst. He let go of Piers’ collar and let his hand drop, dipping his head with a sigh. “I’m sorry, you were right. I made the wrong call before.” His voice had softened, but now it sounded like a small wounded animal. “It’s not going to be like that again. I promise I’ll let you fully contribute to the team….as for what I said…forget I said anything. It’s late, go and get some rest.”

“Chris,” Piers didn’t leave, but carefully took Chris’ hand in his own, making the other slowly lift his gaze. Piers strained to give a smile; his throat was raw, but his eyes were misty. “When I was in the facility…… at the explosion, I was certain that I would be dead. By then most of my body had mutated, and whatever remained were left in tatters from the explosion….I even saw the white light that people see when they're about to die. I regretted so much in that moment, not that I chose to stay behind, but that I never got the chance to tell you what I have to say. I wished so hard then, that I could see your face again one last time, even for a final farewell. Perhaps... perhaps it was this thought that reactivated the C-virus and it cocooned what’s left of me, so I could survive at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Piers…” Chris could only say a word before Piers held a finger to his lip.

“When I was in the coma, I was always trapped in one nightmare or another. None of them were pleasant. I was always drowning in my dreams. I see myself drown in the dream, and then I’ll wake, and realize that I was still in a dream. I died everyday, in every dream. I don’t know how many times I’ve died. I always died cold, wet, alone, and so terribly afraid. It went on until this one time, I was about to drown again when someone pulled me out of the water, and he finally put to rest that endless nightmare. That man was you, Chris. It was in that moment that I woke from my coma, feeling so tired as if I hadn’t slept for a century. Chris. I….”

“Say no more,” Chris tenderly held Piers’ face, and sealed the lips in a long kiss. This time, Piers returned the gesture with an equal measure of gentleness and passion. Their lips were grazing against one another, their breaths shuddering from the nervousness. The room was thick with an almost tangible sense of desire, the coalescence of emotions and feelings that words could never have expressed now had ripple and enveloped the pair. After the unwilling parting of their lips, their foreheads remained pressed together. The pair closed their eyes, relishing in the tranquility.

“We’re both fools,” Chris said gently, after the longest moment. His arms were around Piers’ waist, holding him closely.

“We are indeed,” Piers quietly chuckled, “and now we can be fools together.”

 

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling, don’t be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I’ll love you for a thousand more_

 

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I’ll love you for a thousand more_

_(Christina Perri- A thousand years)_

 

**Author's Note:**

> Written by ltfoxyee  
> Translated by theosymphany  
> Translated with permission  
> Check out other translated works [here](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ltfoxyee/pseuds/ltfoxyee/works)


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